CLEVELAND —  After months of flooding Cleveland’s city council meetings, activists are now pointing their efforts toward Cuyahoga County Council and Israel bonds. 

What You Need To Know

  • After months of flooding Cleveland’s city council meetings, activists are now pointing their efforts toward getting Cuyahoga County Council to sell its Israel Bonds

  • Case Western Reserve University law professor, Dr. Juscelino Colares, said Israel Bonds, like bonds for other countries, are certificates of debt sold to eventually be paid back with interest

  • A county spokesperson confirms the county owns $16 million in those bonds
  • Some Palestinian people living in Cleveland said the investment is painful those dollars could be better used to serve communities locally

Shereen Naser, local Palestinian activist and professor at Cleveland State University, has been organizing with other community leaders since the war in Gaza began. For 16 consecutive Cleveland City Council meetings, they packed council chambers until members passed a ceasefire resolution in late March.

She said activists are now asking the Cuyahoga County Council to sell the $16 million it owns in Israel bonds.

"That money could be put to really good use in investing in U.S. and municipal bonds, or into local businesses here at home, or into supporting our community through things like helping end food deserts, or filling a Cleveland school gap in funding," she said. 

Case Western Reserve University law professor Juscelino Colares said Israel bonds, like bonds for other countries, are certificates of debt sold to eventually be paid back with interest.

"Countries buy bonds from other countries for numerous reasons, and one of them is for investment reasons," Colares said. "And, I would say that Israel bonds are a great investment because Israel is a startup nation."

Colares said that money acts as an unrestricted loan, so it can be used for anything, and that Israel bonds are a good investment, adding that he disagrees with the calls to divest from Israel.

But for Palestinian people living in Cleveland, like Naser, the investment feels painful.

Naser said she and other demonstrators will return to county council until they're able to get what they're asking for.

The State of Ohio Treasury holds $262.5 million in Israel bonds after buying $30 million in early February.